Earthquake 3/11/11

[Shambles]

I know someone whose children and grandchildren were caught up in the quake - as of yesterday, they were accounted for but unable to get together as the roads were too unsafe for travel.

What amazes and humbles me is how orderly and calm people were, according to what I heard. What's that Hemmingway line about guts being grace under pressure?

Right now there's tens of thousands of hurt, bereaved and homeless people without electricity or food. As it stands, four trains and an entire coastal town are "unaccounted for," and the Fukushima nuclear plant is leaking radiation, and may yet melt down.

Been thinking about Kevin at O-Cha, naturally.

[Buzz Fledderjohn]

I heard from Toru over at AN. He is fine, he got out before the tsunami hit. He said that he heard that 10 automobiles were swept away from behind his shop. Sounds like the shop may have taken a hit too.

[auhckw]

I wonder is Hojo alright?

[fire_snake]

I heard from Toru over at AN. He is fine, he got out before the tsunami hit. He said that he heard that 10 automobiles were swept away from behind his shop. Sounds like the shop may have taken a hit too.

I'm not as well-connected with some of the major tea shops and distributors as some of you might be, but my heart goes out to them as well.

What impact would this disaster (and worse, if there is a nuclear incident) have on their business? What does this do to Japanese tea culture and tea trade? What effects might this have on crops long-term?

Tea seems to be a large part of their output as a nation. I'm wondering how they move forward with that output in light of all this. Especially if there is a risk of radiation. I'm not sure at this time what the exact status is of the nuclear plants that have been compromised. Some experts are saying that even if the worst happens it will not be on a Chernobyl scale. But even so, what effect might this have on agriculture?

Christian

[Geekgirl]

Cory is over there too. Sporadic updates to his FB so he's apparently (relatively) safe, though close in to the affected areas.

[auhckw]

I wonder is Hojo alright?

Just saw his facebook update...

We had major earthquake, M8.9 in the northern part of Japan on 11th of March. Fortunately my hometown is in Nagano where is quite far away from the center of shock. My primary concern is the tetsubin artists, Kunzan, Suzuki Morihisa and Seiko-do....

[nrstooge]

My niece is over there in Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki teaching english. She has power off an on, but no water. So far she is ok, but still am worried about those nuclear plants. There has already been so much devastation for those in the quake area, they don't need any more.

Sending positive vibes over there to all affected.

[JBaymore]

Most of the tea production in Japan is more in the southern part. South of Tokyo, little to no damage .....just some shaking.

The damage in the famous pottery village of Mashiko is pretty substantial according to my friends. Supposedly a lot of the Hamada Reference Collection musum collection was damaged or destroyed. And supposedly just about all of the climbing kilns in Mashiko (that is a lot) took big damage. Since the pottey town of Kasama is right next door to Mashiko....it is likely that they had a lot of damage also... but I do not know anyone there.

I am trying to set up a fund to specifically help Japanese ceramists in the northern part of Honshu affected by losses from this disaster via my professional relationships in clay. If I am sucessful in this endeavor, I will let you know here how you might contribute.

The magnitude of the disaster is only starting to be seen. I think the death toll # will rise sharply in the coming week. Tragic.

best,

.............john

[GreenwoodStudio]

It sounds like a fund is a great idea John, and that's very thoughtful of you and a great idea

This almost makes me wonder if pottery that has been slightly damaged, or perhaps even completly broken and then repaired might be marketable with added provenance. A sort of earthquake wabi, which I suppose would be really hard to authenticate

[mrshill9310]

I wish charities would ask for things besides money. I don't have money to give I barely get by right now with what I have. However, I have tons of clothes, bedding, toiletries (that have never been opened that probably won't be used anytime soon,) I got married 6 months ago so we have a lot of double household items that are just sitting in boxes.

[bagua7]

Hmmm...things are not good at the moment in the affected areas. The death toll is very high, and thousands are missing

Japan suffers, the whole of the world suffers...causal interdependence.

All my condolences and prayers go to the people of Japan in these difficult moments.

[Tead Off]

Heard back from Kevin from O-Cha again.

Lost all internet today, but came to office and now it's back on.

The nuke plant is about 25 miles away. As long as it doesn't melt down, it shouldn't affect me. Uh, it might melt down though. No one here is talking about it, mostly they're concerned that there is no running water. I'm keeping my eye on it. If I think it's going to melt down, then will pack up and head south.

This is a messed up situation, hoping things calm down soon.

I heard they are going to vent gas or have from the containment building and pressure is way up, temp hotter than hell, and radiation is 1000X what it is supposed to be.

How much of this is media hype and more scary how much is government hiding the worst?

And of course how much is simply not known by anyone at this point?

Be prepared to go! Take care of yourselves.

It's a mix of government not revealing everything, and media hype. In other words, it's hard to tell.

If I were Kevin, I would take my family and get out immediately if I were anywhere in the vicinity of that nuclear plant. By all media accounts, a meltdown is highly probable. Better safe than sorry. Don't take any chances.

[auhckw]

More photos:-
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/0 ... rmath.html

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011 ... th/100023/

[auhckw]

Satellite Photos of Japan, Before and After the Quake and Tsunami
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011 ... l?src=tptw

On the photo itself, there is a bar to drag left and right to show the b4 and after...

Some places are totally gone/flatten...

[Chip]

If I were Kevin, I would take my family and get out immediately if I were anywhere in the vicinity of that nuclear plant. By all media accounts, a meltdown is highly probable. Better safe than sorry. Don't take any chances.

Are you still there [Kevin]? I saw you on TC for a while.

Are you heading sound yet? Reports sound very ominous!

Still here. It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation here. We have one full tank of gas. If we leave, the only way to go is south and there is no where else to buy gas once it runs out. There is no place to stay either, zero. The current evac zone is 20km, we are 35-40km away from this thing. The winds are blowing away from us. It might blow up, it probably won't though. It's a risk. It's not easy to leave here either. Decided to stay until we absolutely have to go, should that occur. If things stabilize in the next few days, I can continue business. That's a big if though.

So you see, life is complicated. Fortunately, he is not generally downwind.